The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 356 You made the right choice
A simple house is located in the west city of Luoyang.

The courtyard was dilapidated and had a strong smell of earth.

Several young men were sitting in the courtyard, looking up at their chief officer blankly.

Xun Xu sat in front of them with a calm expression.

"Everyone, from now on, this will be my official residence as the Zhongcheng Mansion."

Several young people looked at the surrounding layout and their hearts sank.

Will we be working in a place like this from now on?

Pei Kai was sitting among the many young scholars. At this moment, he couldn't help but wonder, is my brother trying to trick me?

With just this mansion, you still guarantee that I will achieve great things?

Xun Xu looked at the young people in front of him and said with a chuckle, "I know what you are thinking."

"His Majesty told me to choose a place at random as my official residence."

“I picked this place myself.”

"Does anyone know the reason?"

None of the young men answered.

Xun Xu then said, "It's actually very simple. Firstly, this place is large and spacious. When our mansion grows in size, we don't have to worry about it being insufficient. Also, this place is close to the city gate, which is convenient for us to go out and do business. The roads are wide, so we can get in and out in time."

"Of course, this is also to prove that our new sect is different from the original ones."

"We can endure hardships. For the great cause of the world, to assist Your Majesty, we can abandon our greed and live in a simple place, yet we can achieve greater merits than all the nobles in the court!"

It has to be said that although Xun Xu was a treacherous minister, he had good eloquence.

His words quickly aroused the interest of several scholars.

This time, Xun Xu selected some talented and ambitious young people, and he did not accept any of the old ministers.

At first, the ministers in the temple were curious when they learned that the emperor had established a new residence.

They were not afraid that the emperor would set up a new palace to seize their power, because the people in the new palace were all from aristocratic families. An additional new institution would mean another place for the aristocratic families to suck their blood. How could the ministers object?

Even if the emperor were to set up an institution tomorrow specifically to eradicate the aristocratic families, I'm afraid the aristocratic families would not object but would instead sign up enthusiastically.

When they learned that the new mansion would be responsible for disaster prevention and transportation of food and supplies for disaster relief, their eyes began to light up.

Nice place.

Your Majesty, this is a good idea. Why couldn’t such an important mansion be established earlier?

We are all willing to come to this new mansion to help Your Majesty solve the disaster problem. Your Majesty can rest assured in leaving the dispatch of food and supplies to us!
The food and supplies are left with us, and we guarantee that not a single bit will be missing!
Xun Xu's mansion immediately became very lively, with guests coming and going continuously. It had never been so lively before. Even Xun Yi, who had always disliked him, came to visit with a few young men and talked about the affection within the clan.

It's a crowded place, but that's all.

Xun Xu was very polite to those who came and welcomed them with great respect and trepidation.

He held Xun Yi's hand, tears in his eyes.

He also talked about the helplessness of Youbei Zhongcheng Mansion. They were not responsible for the transportation and distribution of food and grass. Local disaster relief still depended on local officials. At most, they could assist and monitor, and had no other powers. Their most important responsibility was to travel around and take disaster prevention measures.

The main task is not treatment, but prevention.

After hearing Xun Xu's detailed explanation of the purpose of the new mansion, those who came to him to ask him to arrange official positions changed their expressions.

Suddenly he started talking about other things and didn't want to bother Xun Xu anymore.

A few people even turned around and ran away, but Xun Xu chased after them, scaring them so much that they rushed onto the carriage.

These people always rush to enjoy wealth and rush to escape from suffering.

Xun Xu really knew them too well.

When Xun Xu set up a government office here and recruited those young people, the big families had no idea what to do.

It's such a shabby place, let Xun Xu take care of it himself.

Xun Xu took out several books and distributed them to the young men in front of him.

"These are all preventative measures I've compiled myself. Many of them are things I've heard about, not actually implemented. What we need to do next is to explore different ways to prevent different disasters while deploying and teaching them in various locations."

"Everyone, we don't have much strength at the moment, and we only have these few people, but what we do is absolutely the most important."

"All of you have been carefully selected by me. You will surely become high-ranking officials in the future."

"In Youbei Prefecture, you will travel to various places to gain experience. The one who will become the Prime Minister in the future will probably be among you!"

The scholars were very excited and bowed to him one after another.

Only Pei Kai looks calm and has the talent of a noble. Why don't you say that you will be the Minister of Rites and the Secretary of State in the future?

The establishment and operation of Youbei Prefecture is just an insignificant event in Luoyang today.

There are really too many big things in Luoyang.

The great victory in the northwest, the rectification of the government in the court, Ma Jun at the celebration banquet, or the conflict between Zhuge Dan and Xun Yi are all far more topical than this.

And in the past few days, the hottest topic is still the Dongtang Banquet.

The emperor is going to hold another banquet in the East Hall.

I heard that the requirements for this Dongtang Banquet are extremely high and it is no longer something that ordinary scholars can participate in.

At this moment in the East Hall, Cao Mao stood aside, watching Ma Jun take out one tool after another.

"Ma Gong? Can you really do this?"

Ma Jun felt unhappy when he heard Cao Mao's questioning.

You can question other things, but you cannot question my strength. He immediately replied, "Your Majesty, someone sent the Ming Emperor a variety of puppets. These puppets were lifelike and extremely exquisite. The Ming Emperor asked me to find a way to make the puppets move."

"After I modified them, the puppets began to perform individually. Some beat drums, some danced, some danced with swords, and some rode horses. The variety was endless. The Ming Emperor was very pleased and rewarded me."

"Now you have only a few dozen puppets. How could this minister not be able to do it?"

Cao Mao laughed and said, "That's good, that's good."

"Mr. Ma, this Dongtang Banquet was organized by me just for you."

"With your skills, and if those seven people write poems to praise you, everyone in the world will be amazed by you. Then, you will be completely famous."

When Ma Jun heard this, there was no joy on his face.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I do not desire fame or success."

"I understand, but for the sake of the world, you must become famous. You must become a great celebrity. You must make everyone in the world admire you and change their views and perceptions of skills. This is the only way to promote many things in the future."

"I hope you can understand."

Ma Jun could certainly understand that His Majesty wanted to improve the status of the craftsmen by improving his own status.

But he still felt a little inexplicably lost.

"Your Majesty, my loom and crossbow are better than this puppet."

"I know."

"It's just that these celebrities don't care much about crossbows and looms. They prefer dancing puppets."

Cao Mao whispered that in the Wei and Jin dynasties when everyone was a fan, if one wanted to promote technology, one could only follow the current trend and build traffic and brand for Ma Jun. Once Ma Jun had enough traffic and status, Cao Mao could let him "sell goods."

If this puppet of Ma Jun were placed in the Later Han Dynasty, he would be a perpetual traitor who would be scolded to death by all the ministers and celebrities, who would say that he had misled the emperor and was wasting his time playing with things. But if it were placed in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it would be a divine object, as these people liked such unusual things.

Crossbows and looms may seem too ordinary to them; dancing puppets are the real deal!

Ma Jun used water power to make the puppet move. Cao Mao couldn't help but marvel at his operation.

He's an amazing person.

He is worthy of being the top inventor of our time.

That idiot Cao Shuang had the best people in the world around him, but he didn't use any of them and didn't listen to a single word they said.

Many great generals and powerful officials of the Three Kingdoms were brought down to their lowest level by him.

Just when Ma Jun was busy doing things, a man came hurriedly.

"His Majesty!!"

The person who came was Du Yu. Du Yu paid his respects to the emperor. When he looked up, he saw an old man leading several strong men fiddling with a pile of unknown parts.

Du Yu's eyes lit up and he stared at it intently.

Cao Mao smiled and said, "That is the Ma Gong I mentioned to you before. I asked him to make a moving puppet for me to admire."

Du Yu was stunned. Huh?

How clever of you to let him make a moving puppet for you instead of inventing something new?

That’s not right. Isn’t Your Majesty such a tyrant?

But the next moment Du Yu thought that this was the East Hall, and he immediately understood the emperor's thoughts.

This is to make Ma Gong famous.

Are you willing to sacrifice your own reputation in order to make Ma Gong famous?

Du Yu fell silent.

Cao Mao looked nonchalant. "Tonight, those famous scholars will be arriving. When the time comes, please help Ma Gong. Ma Gong is not good at speaking, so you can speak for him."

"I will speak to Ruan Ji and the others."

"Let Ma Gong become known to the world as soon as possible, and then we can proceed to the next step."

Du Yu hurriedly accepted the order.

Just as the two were discussing, there was a noise outside the East Hall.

Like they were arguing.

Du Yu immediately frowned and looked outside.

Zhuge Dan and Xun Yi walked into the palace. Zhuge Dan grabbed Xun Yi's arm tightly. Both of them were no longer decent. They looked at each other with anger, quarreled loudly, and pulled each other all the way to the emperor.

"Your Majesty!! The Grand Commandant has gone too far!"

"This old minister cannot bear this humiliation!"

When Xun Yi saw the emperor, he could no longer bear the grievances in his heart. During these days, he discussed the employment system with Zhong Hui every day, took care of important matters of the Secretariat, and had to deal with this difficult Taiwei.

He really couldn't stand it anymore.

For some reason, Zhuge Dan turned against him. He was asked to be responsible for the granary affairs and even to help with the problem of corruption in the army.

Looking at Xun Yi who was almost collapsed, Cao Mao looked at Zhuge Dan who was standing beside him.

This general chose the right person!

ps: This month is almost over. I took a look and found that more than 300,000 words have been updated. I write one day in advance every day and then publish it on time at 6:30 the next day.

Speaking of which, I feel a bit exhausted, so I want to find a day at the end of the month to write two fewer chapters to take a break, and then make up for it next month.

(End of this chapter)